Tennis: Davis Cup set for radical World Cup style reform

The Davis Cup, a tournament that defines the world’s best tennis nation, is set for a radical shake-up. The 118-year-old men’s tournament will have a World Cup-style finals for the first time in 2019.

The somewhat controversial measures proposed by International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty received a vote of 71.4 per cent at the federation’s conference in Orlando, Florida,
on Thursday – above the necessary two-thirds majority.

Several national federations were opposed to the change to the longstanding event, including Germany’s tennis federation which voted against.

The investment company Kosmos, founded by Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, has promised $3 billion (€2.6 billion) to the ITF for 25 years, is behind the plans, which will see 18 nations play a week-long World Cup style finals in November at a neutral venue.

The competition will begin with 24 teams playing home-or-away matches in February, with the 12 winners moving to the finals.

The four semifinalists from the year before and two wild-card teams would join them in the 18-team year-end event.